Realistic or Modern Mansion of Mirrors [IC]

[Ceemuhrie]

​

Dark clouds littered the sky, blocking any chance for light to shine through. A storm was a brewin' -- a hefty one at that. The folks of the town scurried to find shelter, to brace for heavy rains and rough winds, grabbing last minute bread, batteries and water in case power lines were knocked out... again. Last time a storm like this brewed by, they lost power for a full week! The town was dead enough as it was and things like this just made it that much smaller, they were so off the map that assistance took over five days and the workers were fixing the old, long-forgotten, barely serviced electric lines for two more days on top of that.

The town had one bank, one gas station, one diner and one convenience store... that doubled as a flea market slash run down miniature mall. How tragic, to be so boring and have only four places to go in that town.

However, sat the top of the town, on a secluded, arched hill, was the Estate of C. R. Harrows. The gem of the town. In all fairness, his Estate made up most of the town border. No one had ever seen the man, which was odd, considering how small the town was. They simply knew he existed because his maid, Diedre, would come shopping for groceries every so often and talk about him. Speaking of, the woman seemed to be doing some scurrying of her own, striding up the lengthy set of marbled steps to the entrance and the sound of the heavy, wooden door clacking behind her. It was so loud, Diedre didn't know if that was thunder rumbling or the sound of the door losing.

Diedre had gotten word that there would be guests and she wanted to make sure that everything went perfect. It had been so long since the master had guests. And such a big group too! Tonight's festivities held promise. The most promise in years...

Upon entering the Estate, she offered each and every guest a spot of tea, some snack and friendly advice that it would be best to intake some food for extra energy. It was going to be a long, long night for them. Once everyone was in the room, Diedre's face remained neutral, the scars on the corners of her mouth catching the most attention as she spoke. Her eyes glittered wildly, passionately even.

"Hello, and welcome, my name is Diedre, and it looks like you've all arrived mostly around the same time -- how fortuitous. It seems we shall begin our game relatively soon since everyone is on time." Diedre offered a bow, her eyes scaling the room. Ah... A nice, healthy, young group. "If you don't mind, the Master is a very private man. We have waivers for you to sign; standard that you are responsible for your own well-being and for privacy purposes, we ask that you do not record. Our very own security cameras are merely for monitoring, we ask that you respect our wishes." Diedre passed out papers to each guest, providing a pen as well.

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Mansion of Mirrors
PRIVACY & SAFETY
RELEASE WAIVER

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You, (your name here), agree to sign over your right to legally pursue CR Harrows LLC in the event of bodily harm onto your person (which extends to claims of mental health and/or anxieties, such as PTSD, or damage of personal properties. By signing, you also agree to privacy laws and agree that no recording is done by either party. Cameras are merely for security and communication reason and are installed by the Estate owner: CR Harrows.

Breach of contract will result in legal actions and/or other severe penalties.

X C. R. Harrows
X Please sign here
Date: 11/17/2018

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"The second piece on the agenda, prizes. But before that... please speak now or forever hold your peace. If you wish to leave, you may do so now. Once we start the rules for our rooms, there is no going back, and if you decide you want to leave mid-game, you are disqualified from the prize money. Which, if anyone is curious, is $100,000 split between the winning escapees... cash."

 

[JEMdice]

Caliber tugged his leather jacket up to his face to block out the icy wind as he walked out of a flea market. With a pocketed muffin and an after taste of hot chocolate, he was ready to travel to the lonely mansion on top of the steep hill. He hearing a call, he turned and faced the clear glass doors, stepping back into the market.

"Do you need something, sir?", he asked as he walked up to the counter. An old, overweight, squat man sat behind the counter on a near broken wooden stool that tottered with every shift of his massive body. He wore a worried face and fiddled with his stubby fingers.

"Are you planning on heading to that house?", he questioned, his eyes bleak and timid.

"Yep. I heard of a prize that could break two banks and missing out on that seems like a waste," Caliber explained truthfully, picking up on the man's fear. "Have you been there yourself?"

"No, but-", the man's eyes quickly sweeped the store, which was empty of all life besides the hum of the coffee and slushy machines in the back, "I have a good reason to worry that you won't come out of there."

Caliber stepped back from the check-out counter. "Unfortunately, I'll be going anyway. There is no reason to be scared of that mansion. As far as I know, nobody has been let in for years." He looked out of the glass the doors, the mansion barely coming into view. "Besides, whatever fate I have there will be better than whatever else is out here. Have a good night, sir." Caliber headed toward the doors.

"No! Don't! You will regret it!", the fat man shouted as Caliber strolled out of the market doors.

Caliber heard a crash and a thick thud erupt from behind him as well as the snapping of wood. Hiding a chuckle, he started to walk toward the old mansion.

The walk was long and the cold chilled his soul. Along the way he saw citizens bustling around and rushing into their homes. The people of the empty town looked as poor as the people in the old community he left years ago. Their ratty clothes, messy hair, and thinned expressions showed the hollowed nature of the town and their dim eyes portrayed the fear that once plagued him. Ignoring the citizens, Caliber focused on the terrain. The land surrounding the path to the mansion as well as the mansion itself was thick with bare ancient oaks and untrimmed bushes. Dormant grass carpeted the ground and the wind whistled over head, picking up its speed as the storm rolled in.

As Caliber approached the mansion, he could see huge, thick doors. The brick the mansion was build of was dark and aged, corrosion from the rain and wind being apparent. The windows were dark and the only light Caliber could see was the dim lantern hanging outside of the mountainous doors. Walking up to doors made Caliber felt like he was shrinking in size. He knocked on the ancient wood.

Immediately, a women with a scarred face pulled one of the doors in, saying, "Welcome," in a curious tone.

"Oh, hi," Caliber replied in a light hearted way as he headed into the mansion. He found himself eyeballing the woman's scarred cheeks. "What's your name?"

She smiled as she busied herself with a teapot resting on a coffee table in a side room. "I'm Diedre." She briskly walked up to him with a tea cup on a small plate with a few cookies accompanying it. "You should have a seat, relax, and eat." She gestured to side room that held an aged elegant couch and a few arm chairs that shared the same style. With further inspection, Caliber noticed an assortment of cut meats and cheeses with a heap of crackers next to them on the coffee table.

"Oh, ok," he replied in a somewhat surprised tone as he walked toward the side room, Diedre following him. He thought that he was going to be thrown into a difficult situation or asked an impossible-to-answer question with little to no time to think. This was an internal change of pace, but he preferred this than his earlier presumptions. He sat down in one of the arm chairs, sliding his muffin out of his pocket. "So, where's everyone else?" He couldn't be the only one crazy enough to do this.

A deep knock echoed out in the entrance room he came from.

Diedre, without answering his question, rushed over to the door to open it.

Caliber shrugged his shoulders and started to open the packaging blocking him from his muffin when his eyes caught sight of the waiver form. From what he could see, he was about to be in for a ride.

In no time, the side room was filled with people he had never seen before, most of them being women. Diedre then delivered a short speech and passed out the waivers to everyone.

Signing the waiver, Caliber wondered how he was ever going to win $100,000 dollars against 4 other people.

 

[Silent Mimic]

Lilina Wicker
​

As the girl was starting to pack her things, she heard whispers from her doll, "Don't go...", the rabbit whispered. Lilina was slightly put off by it's whisper but she still went to the mansion. As she went to the route of the mansion, she noticed peculiar things in her sight, a headless man swaying with the wind. It was whispering words, "Don't trust the woman, she'll leave you at death's door...", and then the man disappeared without any more explanation. The trees were already dried and dead, a perfect place for a creepy setting. There was no other houses nearby. She arrived at the front of the mansion, mysterious and dark. The girl felt her body being pushed to enter the mansion. She took a step on the front porch and entered the mansion, hoping that she may be alive after the experience. There was a woman waiting with a bunch of other humans wanting to enter the building. She gave a short speech on the reward of the escape room, '$100,000? Now, they have got to be kidding.', she proceeded to hand out some kind of paper, a waiver of some sort. Lilina is uneased by this piece of paper, 'If they want their guests to be freaked out, they definitely got the vibe spot on.", she proceeded to sign it, letting her life be put at risk.

 

[Ceemuhrie]

Diedre scanned the room for anyone wishing to leave, quite please that all her guests seemingly wished to remain. Good, this was good, she thought silently. She watched every one scribble their signatures, her ears perked for any questions. Though, she doubted there would be many after she explained the rules. She cleared her throat before collecting the waivers.

"Rule One... As mentioned in the waiver, there will be no recording and no photos. This is the most important rule to us. Breach of this could have legal consequences. Or worse. However, like most modern mainstream escape rooms, you are not forbidden to try to 'google' answers, or utilize your smart devices for flashlights, or use 'code-breaking' applications. I will advise that for most past parties, none of these applications or searches worked.

Rule Two... You make shake, dismantle, scrape, break, and even steal anything you like from the rooms. Anything you feel is important, take with you to the next room. As you can imagine, the master is not worried about monetary expenses. Please, explore and destroy to your hearts' content. I will note that it's my personal distaste if you choose to cheat the game... but the master says for the rooms, almost anything to aid your escape is acceptable.

Rule Three ... Unlike traditional rooms you are allowed unlimited hints, and I shall be the one to provide them. Each room will have a device that is able to communicate with me. Be it a monitor, a walkie-talkie, a loudspeaker... you must simply call my name. For anyone not paying attention earlier, it is Diedre. However, your hints will come at a price, so be aware of that when you ask me for help.

Now, a little bit about the escape room. Each 'room' is actually a floor of the mansion. You will have five floors, and each floor has four rooms; three of these rooms are filed with puzzles and codes and will be your main escape; the third room absolutely requires a master key for escape and the fourth room guides you to the next floor and will prove to be a resting area should you all need it. You will know this key as soon as you see it. Because we have so much space here for you, the grand escape time is seven hours, or a little over an hour for each room. Each floor has a theme, if you will, a sub-theme of the mansion's theme. Penalties, clues and puzzles will be aligned with this theme. And lastly, before I forget... It is encouraged that you all work together, though, in the past, we have seen a few... lone wolves. There is no rule against you all working separately, you may do so if you wish. But you do so at your own risk.

I've talked so much today, as you can imagine my mouth is beginning to pain me, but for you all, and the sake of the game, I shall endure. Are there any questions before we begin?"

 

[JEMdice]

Caliber shook his head no, his frisky grin ready for the challenges that lie ahead and the $100,000 prize. He wouldn't mind working with the other ladies. To him it only meant solving the rooms faster and more efficiently. The stealing rule was what snagged his mind, though. He could steal...anything to complete the rooms? And the breaking rule... What if the only way to escape a room was to break down its walls? He rubbed his hands together, anticipation flooding his veins. 'What fun!', he thought excited, his facial expressions barely able to contain the emotion.

He looked over at the women. He wondered what they could be thinking...